Sacramento reviews speed limits on 30 streets

Speed limits could be changing on several streets if the Sacramento City Council adopts a proposal from the city's transportation department.

The proposed changes come after engineers reviewed data on motorists' average speed on 30 city streets. Three of those streets are up for change.

The proposal that will will go before Sacramento's City Council includes the following speed-limit changes:

+ Second Avenue from Riverside Boulevard to 21st Street will be reduced from 30 mph to 25.

+ Folsom Boulevard from Elvas Avenue to State University Drive could be reduced from 45 mph to 40.

+ Amherst Street, Bercut Drive, and Weald Way would also have the speed limits cut by 5 mph if the proposal is passed.

The city will also examine Second Avenue and Folsom Boulevard for proposed boundary changes to the streets, which would alter existing speed zones in those areas.

Traffic engineer Hector Barron said the city is required to study speeds on more than 300 streets every seven years and submit those studies to the county. If the city doesn't, drivers who get speeding tickets could have those citations thrown out by judges.

Barron said traffic engineers, with a few exceptions, must set speeds based on the how fast 85 percent of drivers travel down the roadways -- to ensure the engineers are not creating speed traps.

Jodie Hope said she supports lowering the speed limit from 30 to 25 miles per hour along Second Avenue.

"They will probably still go 30 but at least there's a chance of them going a lower speed," Hope said.

"I think that's a pretty good idea, because this is a pretty residential area," said Cherie Kraus as she stopped at an intersection.

The City Council will consider the changes at its meeting on Tuesday.

If the council approves the speed limit changes, they still won't become effective until the signs are switched.

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